Evans snatched a split decision from Henderson on Saturday night at
MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, overcoming a first-round
knockdown to halt a two-fight skid and earn his first win since
January 2012.

“I felt like I needed to get that win desperately,” Evans told Fox
Sports. “When you’re fighting somebody like Dan Henderson with your
back against the wall, there are a lot of things going around in
your head and a lot of things that people say. No matter how strong
you are, it still seems to seep in, and you start thinking that you
really need to get that win.”

Prior to his win over Henderson, Evans dropped a unanimous verdict
to Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira this past February in a lackluster
three-rounder at UFC 161. The memory of that uncharacteristically
poor performance may have been dampened by tonight’s victory,
however, especially due to the strength of Evans’ third round
against “Hendo.”

“I felt a bit more nervous [tonight]. I just wanted to perform
well. Tonight was all about execution. I felt like, as long as I
execute, the performance will take care of itself,” said Evans. “I
was somewhat [happy with my performance]. I’ve learned in this game
to be happy with a win, because they don’t always come. But the
critic -- the analyst in me feels like I could have done better and
that there were a lot of things that I didn’t do well that I should
have. But that’s part of the game. I’m still growing in this sport,
and as long as I have the opportunity to fight again, I’ll fix
those things I didn’t do right.”

His victory over Henderson now behind him, Evans said he is open to
fighting whomever the UFC places in front of him next, including
fellow top-10 talent Glover
Teixeira.

“Glover said he’d like to fight [tonight’s] winner,” said Evans.
“I’m not calling anybody out... but I’m not turning anybody down. I
like to fight.”